In my place of employment, various memoranda or documents are reviewed by various layers of individuals before receiving final approval. Affixed to the top the document is a cover memorandum which lists the final recipient (someone important) and the originating office and then all of the internal reviewers (who sign/initial as the document travels).
This is known colloquially as the “chop sheet.” I can’t imagine that term is unique to my place of business, but my attempts to google it have results in either recipes for pork chops or references to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
A seal , in an East and Southeast Asian context, is a general name for printing stamps and impressions thereof which are used in lieu of signatures in personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, art, or any item requiring acknowledgement or authorship. In the western world they were traditionally known by traders as chop marks or simply chops . The process started in China and soon spread across East Asia. China, Japan and Korea currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and, increasingly, electronic signatures.[1]
I don’t know the answer but the origin might be that in the Western world the name for the seal or stamp used by Chinese and others as their signature is “chop”.
In my experience it isn’t uncommon for people from former British colonies in Asia to use the word “chop” as slang for “signature”
The term may have come into common use through the military
The retiring officer should forward their request to Officer Personnel via NSIPS, with appropriate documentation attached to the request, and via hard copy through their chain of command using a blue chop sheet and following the format guidelines in MILPERSMAN 1810-020.
Btw… the “blue chop sheet” link is a US Navy Intranet link, so won’t work unless you’re connected to a controlled DoD network. Just so more folks don’t click it and become puzzled it times out.
No problem, you were just quoting, undoubtedly from a document found on Google. You couldn’t know about the links to the closed network. The link came through fine, it’s just not useful for general consumption. TBH, from context, a “chop sheet” is a coordination routing sheet, designed to make sure required reviewers review and sign off on a reviewable document (and the associated action plan, if that’s what’s in the document).
Not much of an insight on why “chop” sheet, unfortunately. Another piece of slightly obscure Navy lingo.
I’d put money on it. The US navy has fought and been based in Asia a lot. It would seem a remarkable coincidence if the British colonial word for a Chinese signature wasn’t related to the US navy’s word for signature sheet.